"Bears like Paddington are very rare," says Mrs Bird, "and a good thing too, or it would cost us a small fortune in marmalade."

The Brown Family first met Paddington on a railway station - Paddington station, in fact - and now he is just another member of their family, if a slightly unusual one.

As he says himself, "Things happen to me - I'm that sort of bear." With his attempts at home decorating, detective work and photography, the Brown family soon find that Paddington causes his own particular brand of chaos.